Scheda

Dettaglio

• Titolo:
  Postdoctoral grant - ERC-project 'VERITRACE'
• Tipologia incarico:
  Borsa post dottorato
• Durata incarico:
  12 - 36 mesi
• Paese:
  Netherlands
• Scadenza:
  06-11-2023 - Ore 00:00
• Descrizione:
  
  

  Position description
  The Faculty of Languages and Humanities, Department History, Archeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics, is looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a grant.
  More concretely your work package, for the validation of your doctoral research, contains:
  You will take part in the ERC-funded project 'Traces de la Verité: the reappropriation of ancient wisdom in early modern natural philosophy' aka VERITRACE (HORIZON ERC-2022-StG, 101076836), led by Prof. Dr. Cornelis J. Schilt.
  VERITRACE seeks to understand how the concept of ancient wisdom - prisca sapientia - and its associated writings which emerged from the Italian Renaissance influenced the foundations of modern science. Nicolaus Copernicus, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton and many other natural philosophers of the early modern period ascribed to this tradition and voraciously studied editions of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Chaldean Oracles, and other related texts; yet we have hardly any idea how exactly their own knowledge-making endeavours were influenced by these writings, or by the idea that knowledge itself was not new, but old. VERITRACE will address this question by deploying state-of-the-art techniques for digital analysis on several large-scale digitized corpora to trace exactly how these texts and the general idea of a prisca sapientia returned in early modern natural philosophical writings, with what sentiment they were discussed, and the influence of particular key-moments in the scholarly discussion of these texts on their overal perception. More detailed information, including the full project proposal (which candidates are strongly encouraged to consult) can be found on the project website.
  As a postdoctoral researcher with VERITRACE, you will be part of a dynamic and growing team of historians and philosophers of knowledge and Digital Humanities specialists in the heart of Brussels. Unlike many other historical projects, VERITRACE is truly a team-effort. From data-discussions to the selection of promising case-studies to be further explored, and from the writing of papers, chapters, and site content, to the creation of informative data-visualizations, all of these involve full team collaboration. Through frequent meetings in which we discuss results, strategy and planning, infused by periodic consultation with domain specialists, you will contribute to the succesful implementation of the data-driven research that forms the heart of VERITRACE. Together with the PI, the various other postdocs and PhD students, you will be responsible for the project's first milestones, including mapping the spread and dissemination of the most important ancient wisdom corpora throughout Europe, an in-depth analysis of the various geographical, philosophical, and religious loci, and the development of a detailed grammar of discussion: who read which texts, where, in what context, and how did it inform their understanding of knowledge? Additionally, you will be able to focus on particular segments and develop you own data-driven case-studies, making full use of the experience you bring to the project.
  For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base.
  Profile
  What do we expect from you?
  You hold a doctorate (PhD or DPhil) in history of science, history of humanities, history of knowledge, history of ideas, history, philosophy, or religious studies, or any other relevant subject, with particular emphasis on the Renaissance and/or early modern period: OR you hold a doctorate in informatics, natural language processing, digital humanities, or similar, with proven experience in the historical areas, themes, and periods as described above.
  You have extensive experience in working with Renaissance and/or early modern printed texts and their digital representations, preferably in Latin and/or Greek, and in at least one of the following languages: English, German, French, Italian, Dutch;
  You have a keen interest in the ancient wisdom themes described above, as demonstrated from your doctoral studies, publications, or otherwise;
  You have previously used digital research methods, such as OCR, topic modelling, data visualization, GIS, and/or programming, as part of your academic research, or you have obtained experience with these techniques elsewhere;
  You have a strong proficiency in English, both oral and written.
  You have not had a residence or employment in Belgium for a period exceeding 12 months in the 36-month period preceding the start date of the postdoctoral scholarship.
  Offer
  Are you going to be our new colleague?
  You’ll be offered a full-time postdoctoral scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 36 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the research activities), with planned starting date 01/10/2023.
  You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.
  At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.
  As well as this, you’ll enjoy various benefits:
  Full reimbursement for your home-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, or compensation if you come by bike;
  Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
  The space to form your job content and continuously learn via VUB LRN;
  Excellent facilities for sport and exercise;
  Ecocheques;
  Delicious meals at attractive prices in our campus restaurants;
  An open, family-friendly work environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract).
  Interested?
  Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?
  Send us ONLINE and at the latest on 23/06/2023:
  your recent CV (2 pages max);
  your letter of motivation, explaining why you would be the ideal candidate for this position (2 pages max);
  a two-page description of the sub-project you would like to develop as part of your postdoctoral research;
  a writing sample of 8,000 - 10,000 words;
  the highest degree you’ve attained (not applicable for VUB alumni).
  Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Prof. Dr. Cornelis J. Schilt at cschilt@vub.be.
  Applicants will be informed of their results no later than 30 June 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed between Monday 10 and Wednesday 12 July 2023, all remotely.